![]() ![]() China introduced low-cost chemical purification methods for fine graphite in the 1990s but these methods are not economical in other countries, especially in the west. The main use is in electrodes and carbon brushes.įibrous - Produced from organic materials such as rayon, tar pitch and other synthetic organic polymer resins the main usage is in insulation and as reinforcement in polymer composite.Īlternatively, natural graphite can be upgraded to the same specifications through intensive thermal and chemical upgrading. Primarily - 99 percent synthetic graphite is made in electric furnaces from calcined petroleum coke and coal tar pitch. Secondary - Powder or scrap synthetic graphite is produced from heating calcined petroleum pitch and is mainly used in refractories. Synthetic graphite is significantly more expensive and can be engineered to exact required specifications through the following forms: Accordingly, there is an overlap in uses between natural and synthetic graphite that is controlled by price and purity. With the more emerging uses, graphite could be modified or engineered in the future (graphene technology) either because of high costs or owing to the emergence of superior high-quality composite material. The major use of graphite is in the steel and refractory industries, which consume over 40 percent of the world production, followed by lubricants, expanded graphite applications and carbon products and the biggest growth is in the energy applications. Subsequently, the demand for green technology, export restrictions mainly in China, stricter environmental regulations, mine depletion and rising energy and transportation costs, have all contributed to an increase in graphite prices. Going back for the past 20 years, graphite prices sustained a low at below US $ 1000/ton from early 1990s to 2005, mainly due to the low cost of Chinese graphite production. Prices for upgraded purities or modified products, such as spherical and expanded graphite, as not commonly quoted but are known to go as high as US $ 20,000/ton. Increase in flake size at a constant purity adds a gradual premium to the product, while a decrease in purity at the same flake size causes a significant decrease in price. The benchmark purity in the industry is 94-97 percent carbon for natural graphite. The variation in these parameters creates a price range. The main parameters used in pricing graphite are flake size and purity. Graphite prices, just like most industrial metals, are negotiated directly between the buyer and the seller based on a common posted price. ![]() Industrial Alliance Securities Inc.’s model for future graphite supply and demand suggests that a minimum of four mines and as many as 23 will need to go into production outside India and China between now and 2020 to satisfy the growth in demand. Graphite has been referred to as the material used in every industry yet in small enough quantities, which is not noticed by anyone. ![]() As a follow up to my article on value addition to minerals published in Mirror Business on March 11, 2014, I would like to highlight the attempts by the researchers in Sri Lanka and also various government entities in value addition to graphite in the light of ‘graphene’, the miracle substance produced with the base as high-grade graphite exclusively found in Sri Lanka as lump, vein and flake with carbon grades over 95 percent. ![]()
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